The situation to be considered here concerns the installation of vehicle front ends, which are connected via a so-called mounting support to the vehicle structure or frame. For this purpose, bumper brackets are usually attached to a mounting support via crash boxes, the mounting support itself is connected to longitudinal beams of the vehicle either directly or via the crash boxes.
The components used for the assembly are by nature subject to tolerances, such that their correct positioning must be ensured. In the case considered here, the crash boxes connected to the bumper brackets are received by the mounting support and screwed together and to the respective longitudinal beam by connecting bolts that are oriented in the transverse direction of the vehicle. Corresponding connector systems are known from DE 10 2008 012623 A1 or DE 10 2009 021 885 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,603 B2. Because the components are subject to tolerances, the crash boxes may become misaligned both in the longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y of the vehicle as well as in the vertical direction Z when said crash boxes are placed into the mounting support; a defined placement and alignment of the components is therefore not possible. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,503,603, an adapter into which the crash box is inserted is used for tolerance compensation. In DE 10 2005 051 764 B4, the tolerance compensation between the crash box and the longitudinal beams of the vehicle is established via a screw thread. DE 10 2009 021 885 A1 proposes to insert the crash box into a receptacle on the mounting support, which defines the crash box in the vertical direction of the vehicle, in order to still allow for movements in the relative position of the crash box and the mounting support in the direction perpendicular to the driving direction and in the driving direction.
With respective devices from the prior art, it is until now not possible to reference the position between the components to be connected during pre-assembly.